THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050237
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOHN HARPER
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 177 lines
ON A COOL late April day, John and Carol Haas walk hand-in-hand down a long and winding path, embracing the fragrances of the hundreds of flowers, trees and shrubs in the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island.
The couple comes here often to walk, reflect and listen to the quiet, far from the bustling beach towns. This is John Haas' 60th birthday, and the Kill Devil Hills pair is celebrating in this peaceful place.
``The Lord is faithful,'' Carol Haas says. ``He gives us beauty.''
The Haases are not alone in their attraction to the 10-acre, 16th century Elizabethan pleasure garden; 90,000 people visited in 1994.
Thirty-five years after the gardens opened, they are still in full bloom. A team of seven full-time gardeners sees to that. Think of it as the show that never ends.
For everything there is a season. Masses of azaleas, dogwoods, vines, bulbs and sweet annuals peaked in mid-April and will remain vibrant throughout this month as they are joined by roses and herbs.
Roses continue to blossom through the summer along with begonias, lilies and summer annuals, according to a wallet-sized garden guide. The autumn months feature hibiscus, chrysanthemums and impatients. Camellias take a starring role from October through March.
The Elizabethan Gardens can be enjoyed on several levels. Horticulturists thrill to the myriad varieties of plants, flowers and trees in the gardens. History buffs walk the ground where true pioneers landed more than 400 years ago. Thinkers like the quiet places to sit and ponder. Nature lovers revel in God's creations. Couples renew wedding vows amid the gifts of nature. Families can walk the paths together.
Lovers find the Great Lawn in the gardens a perfect spot to exchange wedding vows. There were 30 weddings here last year, gardens manager Barbara Meeh said.
Visitors to the gardens pass first through iron gates built into a wall of handmade brick. From there, it's into the 16th century- style gatehouse, made of the same turn-of-the-century brick from the Silas Lucas kiln in Wilson.
The richly appointed gatehouse features a 16th century Jacobean table and a corner cupboard, made of oak.
On the wall is a memorial plaque listing the names of the 91 men, 17 women and nine children of the ``lost colony,'' who arrived on Roanoke Island in July of 1587 and later disappeared.
Upon leaving the gatehouse, visitors enter the Shakespeare Herb Garden. Forty-three varieties of herbs can be found here, 23 of which are documented in ``Shakespeare's Herbs in the Elizabethan Garden'' by Huntington Cairns, former secretary of the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Shakespeare mentions the 23 herbs in his plays.
From there, pine needles carpet the winding walks to the different areas of the gardens.
Among them are the Queen's Rose Garden, brimming with the grandiflora, floribunda, hybrid tea, shrub and climbing roses that reach their peak in May. An antique sundial stands in the center of the rose garden. Its inscription reads: ``Let Others Tell of Storms and Showers; I'll Only Mark Your Sunny Hours.''
Down the steps to the east is a marble statue of Virginia Dare, carved by American sculptor Maria Louisa Lander in 1859. Lander's sculpture is her vision of what Virginia Dare, the first English child born in North America, would have looked like had she lived to adulthood.
The statue's story is as remarkable as the tale of Sir Walter Raleigh's ill-fated lost colony.
The newly carved statue was enroute from Rome to America when the ship carrying it sank off the coast of Spain. For two years, the statue sat on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
Incredibly, it was recovered and returned to Lander, who kept the statue until her death in 1923. The figure was willed to the state of North Carolina, which accepted the statue three years later and placed it in the Hall of History in Raleigh.
But it became a controversial piece of art. Complaints were received by the Department of Archives and History, saying the statue of the half-nude woman, clad in a fishnet, was obscene.
The statue was moved to the basement of the old Supreme Court building. From there, it made its way to Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island, the site of Paul Green's play, ``The Lost Colony.''
In the meantime, Fort Raleigh had become a national historic site, but the National Park Service frowned on the idea of a ``grown up'' Virginia Dare on the grounds. Since there was no official record that Dare had grown to womanhood, the Park Service said the statue was an inaccurate depiction. The statue never left its packing crate.
Later, Waterside Theatre designer Albert Q. Bell sent the statue to Paul Green's estate in Chapel Hill. Green never unpacked Virginia Dare. When the Elizabethan Gardens were created in 1953, Green sent the statue to the site, about 100 yards from Virginia Dare's birthplace.
To the west of the Virginia Dare statue is the lead feature of the Elizabethan Gardens - the Sunken Garden. This square area, consisting of 32 identical parterres, is a continuing parade of color with its ever-changing displays of ornamental plants. The focal point of the garden is the antique Italian fountain and pool.
The Great Lawn lies south of the Sunken Garden. During the summer months, ``The Lost Colony'' cast often performs Elizabethan plays there. Nature lovers enjoy the circle of sasanqua, japonica camellias, azaleas, lace cap and oak leaf hydrangeas surrounding the Great Lawn.
Also here is an ancient live oak, estimated to have been living when the first colonists landed in 1585.
It was the plight of the original English settlers that moved the founders of the Elizabethan Gardens in the middle of the 20th century.
Ruth Louise Coltrane Cannon, former chairwoman of the Roanoke Island Historical Association and wife of North Carolina philanthropist Charles Cannon, conceived the idea of the gardens in 1950.
She was visiting the nearby Fort Raleigh National Historic Site with two friends: historian-author Inglis Fletcher and Sir Evelyn Wrench, founder of the English Speaking Union. The three also attended ``The Lost Colony'' in the adjacent Waterside Theatre.
As the they walked the fertile grounds, they considered how a 2-acre garden would enhance the value of the area as a permanent memorial to the brave men, women and children of the lost colony.
The idea was presented to the Garden Club of North Carolina at its annual meeting in 1951. The non-profit organization of 17,000 women voted to build such a garden on property leased (at a cost of $1) for 99 years from the Roanoke Island Historical Association.
Soon, the modest 2-acre garden took on a life of its own. The club hired internationally renowned landscape architects Richard Webel and Umberto Innocenti to plan and erect the garden on the shores of the Roanoke Sound.
At about the same time in Georgia, a friend of Webel's, John Hay Whitney, was dismantling his estate, which included a number of Elizabethan antiques.
Whitney had planned to donate the pieces to New York's Metropolitan Museum but changed his mind when he heard about Webel's plans for the gardens on Roanoke Island. He donated the collection of a sundial, bird baths, stone steps, benches and an ancient Italian fountain and pool to the Garden Club.
It was a rich find, but it completely changed the concept for the gardens. Webel and Innocenti now would create a garden that was Elizabethan in spirit and style, but would be larger than the original 2-acre plan.
Construction of the Elizabethan Gardens began on June 2, 1953, the day Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England.
Seven years later, on the 373rd anniversary of the birth of Virginia Dare, the gardens were formally opened.
And on this late April day in 1995, their original purpose rings true.
Michelle Welch watches her daughter dance in delight as she feels the splash and spray of the fountain in the Sunken Garden.
Lynda and Bob Broer let their son, Paul, lead the way through the 10-acre gardens. Lynda says Paul, now holding the complimentary map of the gardens, also navigated the family's trip down from New Jersey.
``This is like a big video game,'' Lynda Broer says. ``My son pretends he's getting Mario out of the maze.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
SPRING SPLENDOR
[Color Photo]
Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
Gardeners, left to right, Gary Pledger of Columbia, Robert Harsher
of Manteo, superintendent Dave Veltri and Suzannah Garder pluck old
blooms from a pansy bed.
Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
A mother and daughter walk into the brightness of the rose garden at
the Elizabethan Gardens, leaving behind the azaleas that fill in a
brick courtyard.
Gay Batton of Virginia Beach focuses her camera on a shot of the
flowers while visiting the Elizabethean Gardens.
Elizabethan Garden staff gardeners Judson Bryant, left, of Columbia
and Jerry May of Manteo, sweep fallen leaves from the tall hedges
surrounding the Sunken Garden. Bryant and May are two of the seven
gardeners who keep the 10-acre, 16th century Elizbethan pleasure
garden in bloom year-round. The 35-year-old attraction on Roanoke
Island drew 90,000 visitors in 1994.
ABOUT THE GARDENS
What: The Elizabethan Gardens
Where: Off Highway 64 on Roanoke Island, next to Fort Raleigh and
The Lost Colony.
Hours: Open 9 a.m. to dusk, year-round.
Admission: $3 for adults, 1$ for children 12-17. Kids under 12
are free.
For more information: 473-3234.
by CNB